What is a ryokan? Japan's traditional inn, explained

What is a ryokan?

A ryokan (旅館) is a traditional Japanese inn — the country's centuries-old form of hospitality. Instead of a hotel room you get a tatami-matted room, sleep on a futon laid out on the floor, wear a yukata robe, and are usually served an elaborate multi-course kaiseki dinner and breakfast. Many ryokan, especially in hot-spring towns, have their own onsen baths. Staying in one is one of the most memorable things you can do in Japan.

What a ryokan stay includes

• A tatami room with low furniture and sliding paper doors; staff lay out your futon in the evening.
• Meals: typically dinner and breakfast included — kaiseki, a seasonal procession of small, beautiful dishes.
• Yukata & onsen: a cotton robe to wear around the inn, and often hot-spring baths (public, sometimes private).
• Omotenashi: attentive, understated Japanese hospitality, often from a nakai room attendant.

Ryokan etiquette (the essentials)

• Take your shoes off at the entrance (genkan); switch to provided slippers, and no slippers on tatami.
• Wash before the bath: in the onsen you soap and rinse fully before getting in; the bath water is for soaking, not washing.
• Tattoos: some onsen still restrict them — see our onsen tattoo guide.
• Wear the yukata left side over right, and you can wear it to dinner and around the inn.
• Meal times are set: dinner and breakfast are usually served at fixed times — confirm on arrival.

Ryokan vs hotel — which to choose

Choose a ryokan for the experience: tradition, kaiseki, onsen and quiet. Choose a hotel for flexibility, late check-in and lower cost. Many travellers do one or two ryokan nights (often in an onsen town like Hakone, Kinosaki or Kyoto) as a highlight and hotels elsewhere.

Plan it

Ryokan range from simple family inns to luxury. Book popular ones early, especially in autumn-leaf and cherry-blossom seasons, and check whether private-bath rooms or tattoo-friendly onsen are available if you need them. Pair a ryokan night with Kyoto's cultural experiences for a deeply traditional trip.

A ryokan is not the only traditional lodging worth a night: a shukubo temple stay on Koyasan puts you inside a working monastery, with vegetarian shojin ryori and a 6am service, from roughly ¥12,000 including two meals.